Need Help: Hide Placements

[TeeJayV21]

Hello Gecko Forums! I need help with the hide placements in my tank. I have read many care sheets and I do understand the basics, but i would like a little input from the leo veterans on this site! ok just giving you a back ground on what i have: on the cool side, just a rock looking hide( on the right), and on the hot side, a exo terra reptile den (on the left). i have a UTH under neath the reptile den. my question is, Is the UTH better beneath the reptile den? i know leos are nocturnal and try and get away from the sun, so would they go into a hide like that to get away from the heat?, but my thinking is instead of getting away from the sun, they are actually going to the heat source? I know I may be over thinking this, but this would be the first leo that i get and I just want to care for my leo in the best way possible. any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


This is pretty much what my tank looks like. I am using slate tiles for the flooring and i have a water dish, a feeding dish, and thermometers that are not seen in this picture.

 

[mörten]

Hello and welcome! Glad to hear you want to give your leo the best care .

Yes, you got it right. They will lay hidden during the days and will look for a heat source to warm their belly. As for the reptile den and UTH, I would not place the entire reptile den directly above the UTH as it can get very hot in there. I would let about 2/3 of the reptile den be directly above the UTH. Maybe you already have this in place already, but a thermostat to control the temperature of the heat mat and a probe thermometer to read the ground temperature on the floor of the warm side is important.

I dont see any humid hide on the picture. Your gecko will need one of these. You can either buy another reptile den an put moist paper towel or moist spanghum moss in it or you can use a tupperware and cut a small enterence hole in it and fill it with moist substrate.

Your gecko will also need a calcium dish in his tank. There are small calcium dishes that you can buy or you can simply use a cap from a bottle. What are you going to use as a substrate? I do not recommend any loose substrate like sand or bark. You could use slate or tile for example.

I am sure you have read all this in all the care sheets, but I did not see it in the picture so thats why Im listing all these things

To sum up, for the placement of hides I think the cold side looks alright, but that the warm cave should be placed so that it is covered by the heat mat to about 2/3. And also, a humid hide is necessary. You could put this in the middle for example

I hope this helped you out a bit. Keep us updated. Dont forget to show us a pic of your leo

 

[TeeJayV21]

Thank you for answering! so you suggest that i turn the reptile den 90 degrees so that it is somewhat on the heat mat? but yes i have all the things you mentioned i just didn't put them in the picture. and i will also be using slate to line the bottom of the tank.